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It's the same thinking that links violent video games to violent behavior. The causality fits very well into our world view. It also gives a very "simple fix".

It's the same thinking that links violent video games to violent behavior. The causality fits very well into our world view. It also gives a very "simple fix". Limit video games, limit screen time, limit X. When the real problem is significantly harder. Social, governmental, institutional and systemic racism. If there's a real, reproducible, verifiable link, I'm all game for it, but when the problem is so wide spread and the answer is so simple, it really needs to be reproduced across multiple studies. Because rarely is the problem + solution truly that simple.

bschne 5y ago
> When the real problem is significantly harder. Social, governmental, institutional and systemic racism. While I don't question that systemic racism is real, I don't quite see the link here. Isn't the kind of violence video games get blamed for more commonly committed by non-minority people who have mental health issues and/or were "social outcasts" rather than racially motivated? I mainly remember the topic as coming up in connection with school shootings and the likes, not potentially racial hate crimes. 100% agree on the looking for simple (and comfortable to admit!) fixes though. It is so much easier to say "we made a mistake letting kids play these games" than it is to face the truth that some people are either completely left behind by society or descend into incomprehensible madness for no comprehensible reason.
- nonameiguess 5y ago
  I believe what they mean is the majority of violent crimes committed by youth in the United States is committed by kids in historically redlined, segregated neighborhoods where the school system is non-existent, public services and infrastructure is falling apart if there at all, all the fathers have been arrested, the police and citizenry are openly antagonist to each other, so drug trade and criminal gangs are the best shot they have at participating in any kind of a community at all. Solving that will go a lot further than worrying about the comparatively tiny number of suburban white kids shooting up their schools. Note that "systemic racism" here doesn't need to mean any individual involved in this is still racist. It can just mean the lasting after-effects of institutional racism from decades ago that we never bothered trying to actively undo and just hoped everything would get better when we told the institutions they could no longer legally be racist.
  - bschne 5y ago
    Thanks, that makes sense — where I live most of the talk around video games was about school shootings, not "regular" violent crime among young people, that's why I was a bit confused.
blueflow 5y ago
> The causality fits very well into our world view. It also gives a very "simple fix". > Social, governmental, institutional and systemic racism. Some people use video games as bogeyman, some people use time spent online, and you just used racism. Could it be that you are from the US (alternatively: from the anglosphere) and i am not? At this point i find it hilarious how US people point at every second problem and be like, "racism is behind this". I hope i'm not the only one who feels this is some kind of insane.
- vimy 5y ago
  Systemic racism is the QAnon theory of the left. Every disparity between races has one simple explanation, racism, disregarding all other possible causes. The data contradicts the narrative but data doesn’t matter as long as they believe it’s right.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > Systemic racism is the QAnon theory of the left. No, its not. > Every disparity between races has one simple explanation, racism, disregarding all other possible causes. No, “systemic racism” is not “all racial disparities are caused by racism”. It is “some racial disparities are caused by institutional features that may seem racially neutral on shallow analysis but which structurally disadvantage particular races”. > The data contradicts the narrative Well, it certainly contradicts your strawman narrative, but that has nothing to do with what systemic racism is about.
    - vimy 5y ago
      Ok, so what are the disparities that aren’t caused by racism?
      - blueflow 5y ago
        Man, this counter-question is surprisingly good at exposing the dogmatic "all disparities are caused by *isms" thinking in people. Bookmarked!
hoseja 5y ago
... yes, ...yes, ... I agree... they will mention modern social, governmental, institutional dysfunction SUDDENLY RACISM You what?
seneca 5y ago
> When the real problem is significantly harder. Social, governmental, institutional and systemic racism. This post is a perfect example of Poe's law. I genuinely can not tell if it's satire, it is so extreme. I'm not trying to demean the post or poster, but I think this is a good microcosm of current Western society, especially the US. Taking this post on face value, I genuinely don't know how to respond this this. It triggers the same feeling I get when someone tells me Jewish people secretly control the world. It really seems like these conspiracy minded beliefs are getting major uptake on both the left and right, and that strikes me as extremely dangerous. I wonder how this sort of thinking correlates with excess screen time? It does seem like these ideas largely spread online.

bschne 5y ago

> When the real problem is significantly harder. Social, governmental, institutional and systemic racism. While I don't question that systemic racism is real, I don't quite see the link here. Isn't the kind of violence video games get blamed for more commonly committed by non-minority people who have mental health issues and/or were "social outcasts" rather than racially motivated? I mainly remember the topic as coming up in connection with school shootings and the likes, not potentially racial hate crimes. 100% agree on the looking for simple (and comfortable to admit!) fixes though. It is so much easier to say "we made a mistake letting kids play these games" than it is to face the truth that some people are either completely left behind by society or descend into incomprehensible madness for no comprehensible reason.

nonameiguess 5y ago
I believe what they mean is the majority of violent crimes committed by youth in the United States is committed by kids in historically redlined, segregated neighborhoods where the school system is non-existent, public services and infrastructure is falling apart if there at all, all the fathers have been arrested, the police and citizenry are openly antagonist to each other, so drug trade and criminal gangs are the best shot they have at participating in any kind of a community at all. Solving that will go a lot further than worrying about the comparatively tiny number of suburban white kids shooting up their schools. Note that "systemic racism" here doesn't need to mean any individual involved in this is still racist. It can just mean the lasting after-effects of institutional racism from decades ago that we never bothered trying to actively undo and just hoped everything would get better when we told the institutions they could no longer legally be racist.
- bschne 5y ago
  Thanks, that makes sense — where I live most of the talk around video games was about school shootings, not "regular" violent crime among young people, that's why I was a bit confused.

blueflow 5y ago

> The causality fits very well into our world view. It also gives a very "simple fix". > Social, governmental, institutional and systemic racism. Some people use video games as bogeyman, some people use time spent online, and you just used racism. Could it be that you are from the US (alternatively: from the anglosphere) and i am not? At this point i find it hilarious how US people point at every second problem and be like, "racism is behind this". I hope i'm not the only one who feels this is some kind of insane.

vimy 5y ago
Systemic racism is the QAnon theory of the left. Every disparity between races has one simple explanation, racism, disregarding all other possible causes. The data contradicts the narrative but data doesn’t matter as long as they believe it’s right.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Systemic racism is the QAnon theory of the left. No, its not. > Every disparity between races has one simple explanation, racism, disregarding all other possible causes. No, “systemic racism” is not “all racial disparities are caused by racism”. It is “some racial disparities are caused by institutional features that may seem racially neutral on shallow analysis but which structurally disadvantage particular races”. > The data contradicts the narrative Well, it certainly contradicts your strawman narrative, but that has nothing to do with what systemic racism is about.
  - vimy 5y ago
    Ok, so what are the disparities that aren’t caused by racism?
    - blueflow 5y ago
      Man, this counter-question is surprisingly good at exposing the dogmatic "all disparities are caused by *isms" thinking in people. Bookmarked!

hoseja 5y ago

... yes, ...yes, ... I agree... they will mention modern social, governmental, institutional dysfunction SUDDENLY RACISM You what?

seneca 5y ago

> When the real problem is significantly harder. Social, governmental, institutional and systemic racism. This post is a perfect example of Poe's law. I genuinely can not tell if it's satire, it is so extreme. I'm not trying to demean the post or poster, but I think this is a good microcosm of current Western society, especially the US. Taking this post on face value, I genuinely don't know how to respond this this. It triggers the same feeling I get when someone tells me Jewish people secretly control the world. It really seems like these conspiracy minded beliefs are getting major uptake on both the left and right, and that strikes me as extremely dangerous. I wonder how this sort of thinking correlates with excess screen time? It does seem like these ideas largely spread online.